attore

Forms

attore m (plural attori, feminine attrice)^[1] Old Italian forms include atore, actore and Sicilian atturi.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin āctor (“doer, performer; pleader”), a learned word.^[3][4][5][6] The Latin noun is the agent noun of agō (“to drive, do, act”), formed from its past participle āctus with the suffix -tor.^[1][7][8] The verb continues the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂eǵ- (“to drive, lead”), also seen in Ancient Greek ἄγω (ágō, “to lead”) and Sanskrit अजति (ájati, “drives”).^[9] The same learned noun is French acteur, Spanish actor, Portuguese actor and Romanian actor.^[6][4]

According to the LEI the word first came into Italian with its legal, administrative or general Latin senses, “agent, doer”, “one who brings a lawsuit”, “steward”; the theatrical sense, it says, was unknown to Latin, and French has it only from Molière (1664).^[6] The feminine attrice appears for the stage in 1817.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Roman Storie de Troia e de Roma of 1252–1258.^[2] The early senses are “executor, doer”, “author, originator” and, in law, the party who brings an action against another; an attore di pace was an arbiter.^[2] The theatrical sense is found at the beginning of the 14th century in a vernacular translation of Cicero, which advises the reader to be diligent in the last part of his duty, as good poets and industrious attori are.^[3][8][6]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense “plaintiff” is recorded from Giovanni dalle Celle (1388), and Old Italian also used the word for a steward or manager of estates, a sense now obsolete.^[3][6][5] The stage sense spread in the 16th and 17th centuries.^[6] Alfieri writes of having to take the part of Creon himself because no actor was able to.^[6][8]

From 1742 the word also names one who plays an active part in real events, and, from the 19th century one who feigns feelings, a hypocrite.^[3][6] Nineteenth-century Italian companies had the attor giovane, the young lead, a role that called for good looks and brio.^[10][11] Narratology has recently given attore the sense of the concrete character who fills an abstract narrative role (attante).^[5][10]

Timeline

• 1252–1258 – Attore appears in the Storie de Troia e de Roma.^[2]
• Early 14th century – A translation of Cicero uses attori for stage performers.^[3][8]
• 1388 – Giovanni dalle Celle uses attore for one who brings a lawsuit.^[3][6]
• 1664 – French acteur takes the theatrical sense in Molière.^[6]
• 1742 – Domenico Maria Manni uses attore for one who takes an active part in events.^[3]
• 1817 – Attrice “actress” is recorded.^[4]
• 1865 – Tommaseo–Bellini records attore for one who feigns.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An actor: one who plays a part in a theatre, film, radio or television production: Quell'attore ha vinto un premio per il suo ultimo film.^[5][12][13]
2. (figurative) One who skilfully feigns feelings he does not have: Non credergli, sta solo recitando: è un attore nato.^[5][12][10]
3. (figurative) One who takes an active part in a real event, as opposed to a spectator: Furono attori, non testimoni, di quella rivoluzione.^[5][12][14]
4. (law) The plaintiff, the party who brings an action, as opposed to the convenuto (defendant).^[5][13][14]
5. (literary criticism) In structural analysis of narrative, the character who fills an abstract role (attante).^[5][10]
6. (sociology) The individual as the subject of social action.^[5][15]

Word family

• attrice

Related words

• agire
• atto
• azione
• Latin actor

Usage notes

The feminine is attrice, also as an adjective in law: la parte attrice “the plaintiff”.^[5][12][13] Primo attore is the lead actor.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
11. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
12. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org